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Three years ago, the United States, Mexico
and Canada launched a landmark partnership to promote the
security and well-being of our sovereign nations.
The Security and Prosperity Partnership of North America
(SPP) builds on our successful NAFTA partnership. NAFTA helped
create jobs, spur growth, and propel trade between the U.S.
and Mexico, increasing Mexico’s exports to the U.S. by 428
percent.
As the secretaries for SPP, we’ll be meeting this week in
Mexico with our Mexican and Canadian counterparts to prepare
for the upcoming North American Leaders’ Summit in New Orleans.
We will review progress in meeting our common goals: securing
our respective borders, ensuring safe food and products, strengthening
our emergency management and preparedness, and facilitating
global competitiveness, sustainable energy, and a cleaner
environment.
How much progress have we made? Under the SPP framework, we
have made considerable advances indeed.
We’ve strengthened the security of our borders while facilitating
the trade and travel that fuel our economies. In Mexico, for
example, we’ve worked closely with the Calderon Administration
to combat border violence and inhibit the flow of illegal
drugs and weapons. With our Mexican and Canadian counterparts,
we have also tightened travel document requirements at the
border to prevent dangerous people from passing between our
countries while improving our ability to process lawful trade
and travel more efficiently.
In other words, today, three years into our partnership,
our common borders have become increasingly safe and secure.
At the same time, they remain the world’s busiest, with some
of the largest movements of people and products anywhere.
Through the SPP, we’ve also made great strides in coordinating
responses to and sharing information about threats to our
food and agriculture systems, increasing the safety of critical
food supplies.
Our countries are also working together to better predict
and prepare for crises, both man-made and natural. Diseases
and disasters don’t stop at our borders, and there’s no sense
pretending otherwise. By planning together, we reduce the
challenges and disruptions that could otherwise impair our
long-term security and prosperity.
We’ve also seen progress in areas that impact our quality
of our lives. For example through the SPP our three countries
have developed common standards for appliances such as freezers,
refrigerators and air conditioners. This increases consumer
choice and lowers prices throughout our continent.
Yet in spite of all the strides we have made, there is still
work to be done. Our governments need to be ever-vigilant
and prepared to address the unforeseen as well as the existing
challenges to our security and our prosperity. Within the
United States, even as we act aggressively to secure our borders
we also advocate strongly for meaningful immigration reform
to provide sane, sensible, and humane responses to the issue
of cross-border migration. A critical opportunity to address
this long-standing challenge was lost in our legislative process
last year. We urge the U.S. Congress to revisit this legislation.
Nonetheless, progress has been unmistakable and with every
advance, we have shown that both security and prosperity can
advance together. When we enhance security, we strengthen
rule of law, which makes our economies more predictable and
attractive to investors. When border crossings become more
efficient, delays are reduced and businesses thrive.
It is our good fortune to be bordered by unique and sovereign
nations that are democracies, allies and friends. Through
meetings like the one this week in Mexico, common solutions
to our challenges can be found that will bring about a better
tomorrow for the people of Canada, the United States and Mexico.
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